Wired to Win

As promised, my review of the IMAX presentation of Wired to Win. First it would have had to been a major flop for me not to like this. I love IMAX and of course I like bike racing. The film was about the human brain from the perspective of two bike racers in the Tour de France. The underlying message is that these athletes are relatively similar in body, however very different in the brain which is the real engine behind success, not the legs.

I was glad to see it was not about Lance and instead about two lesser known riders (Baden Cooke and Jimmy Casper) and there individual pursuits to succeed, each of which defined success differently in this tour. With that said, there was of course a lot material IMAX could have covered had they focused on Lance. Although the film centered on the two riders from Française des Jeux, their stories were somewhat diluted by IMAX jumping around the peloton throughout the movie highlighting different parts of the brain. This didn't really bother me however I could see where it might bother others. IMAX really missed an opportunity with one segment that focused on danger (recognizing and processing it through the brain). For whatever reason they chose a fictitious rock as the center piece of the danger segment and how to avoid when Lance dodging Beloki on Stage 9 to go off road would have been a perfect real example of how one can process that information and then make decisions to avoid potentially dangerous situation.

Now the actual race footage scene on an IMAX screen can't be beat. There are times when you feel as though you are in the peloton rubbing shoulders with the riders or screaming down the road at 30+ mph. All of this against the backdrop of some of the greatest scenery made the film worth it. I was not disappointed and would recommend any bike racing fan to go see it.

Don't let this happen to you

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